Even before millions of Americans have yet to cast their ballots in the general election, accusations of potential problems at voting centers and even voter fraud are spreading online and online. campaign trails cross country.

But Los Angeles County officials said voter irregularity or fraud is very rare, assuming all ballots are properly counted and handled safely for Tuesday’s election.

Dean Logan, Los Angeles County Recorder, told the I-Team that all ballots will go through many security measures to be verified and processed at a secure facility in the City of Industry on Tuesday night.

“There is a lot of talk about the possibility of fraud, but especially in this period since the 2020 election, there have been multiple court cases, multiple academic studies and statistical data that show that it is very rare for it to happen.” Logan said.

According to the I-Team’s voter irregularity data analyst in Los Angeles County dating back to 2020, there were only 15 cases that were examined by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office or the California Attorney General among millions of votes cast and verified each one. election year.

Among the allegations were voter registration fraud and mail-in ballots returned by someone other than the voter. In one incident, the signers of the petition were found to be no longer alive.

“When we get that information, we turn it over to law enforcement, and then it’s up to them to investigate it,” Logan said. “The consequences of doing that are very extreme. Those are felony charges. “We take them very seriously and our law enforcement agencies take them very seriously as well.”

One of the cases of electoral fraud occurred in the city of Compton when the then councilman Isaac Galvan he was removed from office for getting people who didn’t live in Compton to vote for him. A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge overturned the election and declared that Andrea Spicer won the election by three votes.

Galvan and others were charged by the Los Angeles County district attorney in connection with the incident.

Three defendants, who pleaded guilty to the charge of registering an ineligible voter, are scheduled for sentencing, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

Galvan and another defendant, who had previously pleaded not guilty, were scheduled for a court hearing in November, an official with the district attorney’s office said.

The I-Team contacted Galván’s attorney about the case but did not receive a response.

Data from the California Secretary of State also showed that allegations of voter fraud were exceptionally rare. During the 2020 presidential election, the state reported 48 indictments among nearly 18 million votes cast.

The best way to ensure mail-in ballots are in the right hands is to sign up for a state-run alert system to receive automatic notifications via email, text message or voice call. Sign up for the ballot tracker here.